Orianne Dyck

Daughters of st. paul

Orianne grew up between Deep River and Pembroke, ON, graduating from Bishop Smith CHS. She began discerning a religious vocation while she was teaching in Petawawa. After 5 years of working as a teacher, she became a postulant with The Daughters of St. Paul. She has made her first profession with the sisters. More from Sr. Orianne at the Daughters of St. Paul website.

Vocation Story

I was totally that kid who makes her parents boycott brands for mistreating their workers or the environment. As a child, I had a burning sense of humanity being called to so much more than we were settling for. When I was 12, that meant boycotting Pepsi, and praying for the farmers whose aquifers were being drained to make pop. When I was 20, it meant turning my sights to teaching to help build up kids who needed love and support in their lives. Later, it meant turning to youth ministry to share with teens this amazing, unfathomable love God was gifting to them in His person. I wanted to live in a way that poured myself out for God and allowed me to share Him with others, so I tried to help out with everything I could. And I loved every minute of it. But I was constantly experiencing this restless feeling that told me none of it was “enough.” I figured I just had to learn to be content with the amazing life I had.

Until one day, while chaperoning a youth group to the Steubenville conference in Toronto, when a priest called me out in confession, suggesting that I might have a calling to religious life. It bothered me so much that I realized there might be something to it. With the help of my parish priest and Google, I began my discernment journey.

I found The Daughters of St. Paul online. I went to a ‘Come and See’ retreat with their community in Toronto, and I was struck by how they were just so real. They weren’t the only community I discerned with, and they weren’t the most obvious choice for me. But God just kept drawing me back to them. Their mission of spreading the Gospel to all people using the most modern and effective means of communication was just so relevant, and met a desperate need that I could see all around me. And their spirituality was so holistic; I encountered Christ so fully with them. After a year and a half of discernment I applied to enter, and am now a postulant in St. Louis, MO. It’s been such an amazing experience, full of challenges and rich in growth; meeting Christ in ways I never imagined I would; experiencing how Christ can transform a person and use them in unexpected ways to reach out to others thirsting for him. I’m so grateful to God for shaking up my life and calling me here. He is totally worth wearing a sweater vest for, and his love gives meaning to everything.